Verizon Moto X gets KitKat before the Nexus 4

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Here’s a sentence I never thought I would write outside of making a bad joke — Verizon Wireless is getting the Android 4.4 update to the Moto X before anything else, including Google’s own Nexus 4.

In the world of Android updates, there are a few things you can count on. Nexus devices go first, manufacturers with the most popular phones go next, and Verizon and Sprint usually fight it out for last place. Today marks the first time that basically none of those sentences are true. Motorola has proven their dedication to the Moto X, a phone that has been recently panned for not selling particularly well, by releasing the update to Android 4.4 (KitKat) starting with the Verizon Wireless model.

For the most part this isn’t particularly shocking. Motorola is owned by Google, and the Moto X is very near a pure Android experience. The “bloatware” is so detached that the camera app updates through the Google Play Store now on the Moto X. We got news that the Verizon had been testing Android 4.4 for the Moto X with users, so the update couldn’t have been terribly far away. What was surprising was the news that Motorola and Verizon are updating the Moto X first, with the other carriers due to get it soon.

The update includes all of the important Android 4.4 features, including host card emulation. This means that Google Wallet should be available on the Verizon Moto X, which is another thing that seemed would never happen until today. The camera updates, MMS support in Hangouts, “Find my Phone” update to touchless controls, and updated dialer are all a part of this update. Motorola made it clear that the other Motorola devices, including Moto X on other carriers, will be available in the coming weeks.

It can’t be repeated enough times that the most impressive part of this update is the fact that Google has yet to release an update for their own Nexus 4 or Nexus 10 yet. Both of these devices, for reasons Google has failed to explain, have not yet gotten the update. The Google Play experience versions of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One have also not yet gotten the update, but Google has already received the update from HTC and has yet to approve it for release.